2023 was a pretty phenomenal year forRPGs. Sure, it didn’t haveClair Obscur: Expedition 33, the game that has practically set a new bar for the genre, but it did host the likes ofBaldur’s Gate 3,Final Fantasy 16,Sea of Stars,Diablo 4,TOTK,Octopath Traveler 2, andHogwarts Legacy. Oh, andStarfield. Who could forgetStarfield?
Naturally, as one would assume, the majority of the aforementioned games have aged extremely well, especially the likes ofBaldur’s Gate 3,which remains one of the greatest in the genre.
However, thebiggest RPG of 2023, the one that really took the world by storm and did remarkably well both critically and especially financially, has not aged quite as well. In fact,in 2025, this RPG is a huge disappointment, an exercise in frustrating missed potential and lackluster design.
As much as we were all swayed by its magic all those years ago, I’ve found that the more I revisit it, the more its disparate pieces begin to crumble, revealing the hollow, underwhelming mess within.
Hogwarts Legacy Is A Disappointment In 2025
It Just Hasn’t Held Up Over The Years
I lovedHogwarts Legacywhen it was released in 2023. It felt like a dream come true, a beautiful, intricately designed, and fun way to interact with a series that I enjoy deeply. I very much jumped on the bandwagon, and rather happily so, praising practically every aspect of its design and just relishing in exploring what is still, even now, one of the best interior locations in any video game ever.
However, over time, after numerous playthroughs and a decent amount of time away from it,I’ve come to the realization thatHogwarts Legacyjust isn’t very good.
It isn’t justHogwarts Legacy’sdisappointing ending, or its complete lack of roleplaying mechanics, or its boring villains and generally dull narrative. It isn’t just thatHogwarts Legacy’scombat grows stale over time, that its world has nothing of interest in it, that every side quest, bar Sebastian’s questline, is as interesting as watching paint dry.
Hogwarts Legacy’sfaults are so numerous and multifaceted that it is impossible to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. However, were I to attempt to sum it up in one neat phrase, I’d sayHogwarts Legacyis frustratingly disappointing because it’s painfully unoriginal.
Hogwarts Legacy’sworst featuresexist becauseAvalanche Software copied them verbatim from Ubisoft’s handbook of game design. There are map markers everywhere, exploration is guided not by curiosity, but by obligation, the story is nonsensical, and villains barely get any screentime. Worst of all, the open world is far too vast and thus completely barren, when all it needed to be was Hogwarts and its immediate surroundings.
ReplayingHogwarts Legacyis painful, not just because I have to sit through the storyline all over again, but becauseit is a constant reminder of all the potential this game held when I first started playing it.Hogwarts Legacyis a game I strangely feel nostalgic for, but not in the way we understand nostalgia. Rather, I feel nostalgia forHogwarts Legacyas it was originally defined, a painful longing for a home I’m not sure even existed.
I Wish Hogwarts Legacy Was Better
The Potential Is Absolutely There
If it isn’t clear enough already,I do genuinely want to loveHogwarts Legacy. That’s because, despite all of its many, many shortcomings, the foundations are there to make something genuinely unique. HadHogwarts Legacyleaned into its school-sim elements, or even gone down a completely different and atypical route à laBreath of the Wild, then not only would it have been more warmly received at launch, but it would have aged far better.
Hogwarts Legacy’sgreatest flaw is that it didn’t try hard enough to be different, to stand out, to offer players something new. Yet,its recreation of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade provides the perfect stomping grounds for a school-based RPG like no other.
Had more effort been put into truly simulating life at Hogwarts, the aspect of the books people seem to enjoy the most - at least that’s what captivated me growing up - then it wouldn’t merely be a third-person shooter with a magic cloak wrapped around it.Hogwarts Legacywould be something fresh and new.
Even the bare minimum would have transformedHogwarts Legacyinto a more replayable experience and better set the sequel up for Warner Bros. multiplayer live-service ambitions.
I had high hopes that therumoredHogwarts LegacyDLCwould have added many of the role-playing features that would make this a reality. Even the bare minimum would have transformedHogwarts Legacyinto a more replayable experience and better set the sequel up for Warner Bros.‘multiplayer live-service ambitions. Yet, that was sadly canceled, meaning all expectations and hope rest on the shoulders of its highly anticipated sequel.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Could Fix Its Mistakes
If It Focuses On The Right Aspects
Hogwarts Legacy’ssequel could, indeed, rectify the mistakes of its predecessor.HL 2should break tradition, through caution to the wind, and experiment with a new type of structure or approach to the open-world RPG genre. Rather than being yet another cookie-cutter, bland, and generic RPG,it should try and carve its own path, if only slightly.
AHarry Pottergame should have a magical twist to it, in the same way that an open world inspired by classic samurai films should incorporate its inspiration’s traits and quirks. Fortunately,Ghost of Tsushimadid just that.It baffles me thatHogwarts Legacyended up as dull as it did, considering just how whimsical its source material is.
Yet, despite all of my critiques of the original,I still have hope forHogwarts Legacy2. It will surely disappoint again, but there is a part of me that hopes Avalanche Software will listen to the community and will at least give common rooms a purpose, add more optional classes, and add a handful of minigames as well. The sequel canfixHogwarts Legacy’sgreatest flawsby being something different and doing something new.
It could be the redemption arc I wishHogwarts Legacyhad gotten. Perhaps I’m being overly wishful, but I really do see the potential inHogwarts Legacy. Or, maybe it will be the disastrous live serviceRPGeveryone fears Warner Bros. will turn it into, and we’ll not get another attempt at aHarry Pottergame for a decade or more.
